Receiving clear intuitive guidance requires the ability to respect your own impressions. High self-esteem is necessary for this type of inner listening.
From the moment we are born we are forced into submission. Firstly to the will of our parents and care givers, then to our teachers, our clergy and religion, the ruling power or government, our bosses, our doctors, etc. etc.
Society and our environment demand that we conform. Conformity results in the loss of self-expression. It takes energy to swim upstream against the norm. It takes courage to express oneself when our support system does not relate to or understand that which we are expressing. Sometimes our desire to please overrides our desire to create at the expense of our self-will, self-worth and self-esteem.
When we lack self-worth we also lack self-confidence and will often crawl into a safe rut and stay there. This dampens our experience of life. We become insular, losing our spontaneity, enthusiasm our dreams and desires.
This is how we lose our connection to Self and our inner power. Instead of self-referral we begin looking outward for guidance and begin to doubt our inner impressions.
Self-dicipline is not self-punishment as it is so often portrayed, but rather self-development. When we lose the connection to Self we also lose our need for self-discipline which opens us up to temptation. We begin to over indulge ourselves. Without the connection to Self we are powerless against temptation.
Our personal power is lost when we begin to look outside of Self for security, guidance and direction. We stop taking responsibility for our choices and actions and we become victims of our society. We begin to experience fear as we become powerless and we withdraw. When we give our personal power over to objects outside of Self we experience a sense of being out of control and we become afraid. We then try to regain a sense of control and we focus on objects outside of the Self which are impossible to control. We may consciously believe ourselves to be safe but at a deeper level of existence we are afraid and powerless.
When we block our own power and expression we lack spontaneity and appear cold and controlled. What we are feeling however is a lack of control and a sense of fear. This appearance of control is exhausting and depletes our energy. Our self-expression then turns inwards on itself, resulting in self-criticism, self-loathing and self-persecution. When somebody lacks self-worth and self-esteem they are easier to control and manipulate. When you dislike the way you are feeling you dislike yourself. It is easier to control and manipulate somebody who does not like themself i.e. does not like the way they are feeling. When you do not like the way you are feeling you become focussed on the feeling of discomfort to the exclusion of all other feelings. You anesthetize yourself as a form of protection for fear of further feelings of discomfort. What you also do however is block yourself from feeling joy and desensitize yourself to receiving guidance from within.
Only a connection to Self at a deep level will break this self-destructive cycle. Also an attitude of acceptance of ones shortcomings as well as acknowledgement of one’s strengths in a non-jugdemental loving way will break this negative cycle.
Expressing self-will comes from a connection to Self and a trust in oneself when making decisions. This includes the willingness to face the unknown and take risks and acceptance of responsibility for one’s choices.
It is through using and testing self-will that confidence begins to develop. High self-esteem results in self-confidence, enthusiasm, assertiveness and the willingness to take risks. Self-esteem develops from trial and error and a realistic sense of one’s own capabilities. Experience brings knowledge and knowledge is power.
Once you are confident and trust your own impressions this is the beginning of inner strength and you will be less likely to make bad choices.
It is only when you stop trying to always feel safe and secure that you begin building your personal power from within. Only in a dynamic state of interaction with our environment can we fully express the true Self.
Ayurveda tells us that ill health is the result of an inability to manifest our desires.
The expression of self-will at the deepest level is the alignment of the personality with the Soul. This brings with it the most potential for joy as herein lies the most potential for self-expression.
Having a sense of purpose and experiencing fulfillment with regard to ones self-expression or life’s work affords us the greatest experience of life. This calls for recognition of and striving for a state of interdependence with the Self our society and environment.
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